The differently abled characters in Kollywood have always come across as fellow humans who are not normal but are willing to do normal things or even extraordinary things when given a chance. Given the scenario there exists a lot many opportunities for melodrama that squeezes every drop from our tear ducts - take for instance Bala’s ‘Naan Kadavul’ or Vikram’s ‘Kaasi’ - there exists a natural ploy that the director would exploit unintentionally at some point during the narration. The man who broke that jinx was director Radhamohan, giving a new color to such a theme with his ‘Mozhi’ where Jyothika was cast as a dumb and mute lass with an egoistic acumen. Debutante director Raju Murugan seems to have borrowed a few lessons from Radhamohan’s school of filmmaking and tried to blend melodrama with a bit of fun and flamboyance with his film ‘Cuckoo’.
Cuckoo is based on the love story of a real life blind couple whom the director claims to have met for an interview when he was working as a journalist. Thamizh (Dhinesh) and Sudhandhirakodi (Malavika Nair) are visually challenged. They meet each other, one thing leads to another and finally they fall in love. Predictably there is a stiff opposition for their romance in the form of Sudhandhirakodi’s sibling who wants to exploit his sister’s impairment to his advantage. Did the love birds unite at the end or is it another ‘Kaadhal’ sort of a climax - remains to be seen in theaters.
Choosing such a volatile subject as his debut movie is an audacious attempt from the newbie director. The opening scene where we are given a tour of the world of the blind with just a few simple but impactful conversations with an empty screen was thought provoking and made us realize what it takes to be without our vision. Also another scene where Sudhandhirakodi’s reader whom she has a crush on introduces her to his fiance and she clicks a picture of Sudhandirakodi and posts it in Facebook to get LIKEs - it brings out the stark contrast between the two worlds and also talks a lot about the attitude of the ones with the so called “service mentality” tag on them.
Though these people are marginalized, the narrative treats them like normal human beings with subtle nuances, like their ability to use the rest of their senses in order to make sense of what’s happening around them and the way in which those scenes have been translated on screen without much fuss has to be appreciated. But somewhere along the way the director seems to have lost his grip and has fallen into the “dangerous” melodramatic zone that pulls the story from pacing forward. That sort of a drag is retained until the climax where we feel almost restless (hopeless).
Songs and BGM by Santosh Narayanan were top class and my favorite ‘Manasula Soorakaathe’ was visually appealing thanks to Varma’s eye catching cinematography. Editing by Shanmugham Velusamy was taut but I should not be blaming him for the length as the director’s narrative was a shortcoming in this context.
This movie can be watched for the performances of all the characters including the supporting cast (hero’s side kick, Chandrababhu’s look alike, MGR’s look-alike, the one who tries to woo Sudhandhirakodi and ‘Aadukalam’ Murugadoss in a relatively polished role), narrative (first half), pleasing visuals and soothing music.
Verdict: Watchable
Rating: 2.5 / 5
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Ya ..As u said it can be watched only for its Star cast Amazing performances... Really i am annoyed to see the stereotyping thinking of most of our Tamil directors as if Only One religion is doing Social service...! Its unfortunate Raju Murugan also falls in the trap of Stereotyping... .
It is not just about religion sir, its about the new age rush to project oneself as socially empathetic. It is as good as a politician or a wannabe iconoclast posing themselves with the downtrodden - its basically an image makeover that they are trying to create in order to drop down words like "we are socially well aware about the needs of the poor, downtrodden and the needy" whenever the situation calls for or whenever their image (mirage) gets threatened. Its sad to note that these days even the yuppy class have fallen into this trap. I'm not against doing social service, but at the same time I have no qualms in trashing those who want to cash in on that to propel their image!!